Chisoxfn

Wow - I don't know if this is true or not, but DABearsBlog seems to have been most in-tune over past month or two on the Bears ownerships views. As part of that - evidently through back channels Bears made a swing for Ozzie Newsome (for some form of role within the org). They also have apparently put feelers out to Kevin Colbert (retiring from Steelers) and John Schneider (Seahawks). Additionally - as has been more widely reported, they did leverage Tony Dungy/Bill Polian to help come to some conclusions (would be curious if they would look at a Dungy to take a football type of role). If the above is true - if anything - it tells me McCaskey is thinking bigger with this move. It seemed like there was a lean for them to get an experienced GM - but not sure how true that is and I presume we will learn more about the structure here in the next 45 minutes. But sounds like list is fully ready (with help from Polian) and now its a matter of them getting rolling.

Alright Bmags - I'll bite on the Payton stuff. Would the Saints take Khalil Mack (Bears just hit his cap hit and suck it up for a year) for Sean Payton? Either way - with a new GM in place - I am curious with a new front office how they will handle next year. If it were me - I would be willing to take near term cap pain to make 23 / 24 cap space in a fantastic spot - while also looking to add some more draft capital this year so I could focus some attention on finding some weapons for Fields. I'd probably do a lot of short-term 1/2 year deals on the defensive end, and the only major contract I would hand would be for an olineman (and if there was a wideout out available they really liked I could buy that too).

Ballard shows you how hard things are when you have a mediocre QB. Ballard is a good GM and for most of the year the Wentz deal looked good...last two weeks....looks like a dumpster fire. But Colts have a lot of good talent - they are (and remain) a QB away from elevating that football team. A really good QB makes any GM / HC look a lot smarter. It is those coaches who have done well without a good QB (and consistently) who I have a lot of respect for, because I think they can be guys who if you find them a good QB, they can actually put said QB in best position to succeed (cause they are used to scheming their units around having a mediocre QB and thus their entire focus is comlimentary football and how to maximize the QB and put them in the best spot. You do that for a few years with a talented QB and they will actually grow in front of your eyes (I think that is how Brady, Wilson and others developed).

Are you implying Payton might have an out in his contract for the Bears? I thought it was public knowledge that he is signed through 2026.

I just don't see how it happens - unless Payton literally tells the Saints, I want to go here, please make this happen type of thing. Otherwise - even if he really did - are the Bears really going to give up multiple picks to get him when they already don't have a FRP right now?

Jackson was actually extended after he started to trend downwards. He was never the same player after he got injured late in that 2018 season (where he ended up missing the playoff game vs. the Eagles). The next year he was just okay - but Bears thought he would bounce back.

I think it will be the GM that comes first (unless they are hiring Harbaugh or someone of that ilk).

This. Flores is actually a really good candidate for Bears to look at.

I think it will be Harbaugh. But they aren't going to sit around with him for long. He either accepts and they role or they go hire a GM pretty quick and let him conduct the HC search.

A good sign indeed. Even though as a fellow accountant, Ted Phillips is like a semi hero to me. I need to meet George and tell him I can be the next Ted.

Yeah - but Pace was actually able to convince the Bears ownership that it was necessary. He convinced them to expand the scouting and player personel ranks, etc. Behind the scenes he actually did a lot. But its a results oriented business and difficult and despite those admirable things - the reality is he had 7 years (or whatever it was) and wasn't able to get it there. I do think he's learned and got better and I do think he is pretty solid at drafting, especially in later rounds, but his ability to maximize his actual draft capital/salary space - yeah...not good enough at all. Ability to find special players, game changers, not good enough. There are worse GM's than Pace, but he clearly is not a top 10 GM in football.

Desai's fate should be in the hands of the next coach. No one should force any assistant on the next coach. They may offer up names, etc to help speed up the process - but the coach has to be able to get his assistants.

A bunch of quotes from players post game giving handshakes who indicated Raiders were going to kneel it/run clock out before time out.

Now they need to make sure Ted gets moved fully away from football operations.

I was surprised Flores got the axe.

Is that confirmed; re: Pace?

It looked to me like they were shifting the back further behind and he was going to just run it out or do something low key. Carr said in post game interview that the tImeout changed how the finished game. That said he did say he wanted to win the game (not tie - but that was what he wanted). I guess we will never know and Chargers still blew just tackling Jacobs shorter when the whole field knew it would only be a rushing play. Edit: Saw another replay. Definitely not a knee.

Craziest final regular season game I have ever seen. What the hell were the Chargers doing. I am 90 percent sure Raiders were taking a knee before Staley called that timeout and made Raiders rethink it. Big Ben lives to play one more.

Bears announced they would be opening media sessions up with their players tomorrow morning but announced times for Nagy and Pace would be announced at a later time. Could be a sign both of them never have those conferences (times just stay TBD). If nothing else fact that neither of them have defined times to meet with media as a sign a full house cleaning is still on table. I have to think despite all the reports that both Nagy and Pace are gone.

Thought it was an excellent read. I loved the quotes on getting the right coordinator - someone creative enough to build things around Fields…not to make him the next Manning or to just stick your system down their throat. That is the #1 reason Nagy is gone. He refused to tailor anything. He thought his system was amazing and really did nothing to actually build an offense around its players and their strengths. Because of it the squad never could figure out any identity. It could have maybe been a smash mouth unit - but that just wasn’t the system any of the main offensive coaches wanted. They were all too stubborn about what good looked like vs focusing on the best good for the Bears personnel.

Haha - that sounds awful. No thank you and this is coming from someone who is usually the last to jump to dumping people.

This.

Agree with everything you said.

I thought the same - but all these recent reports have me totally perplexed.

My only answer is - Pace picking a GM (if that is what happens) might be a lot better than Ted/George doing it. It isn’t what I would do but that is the rose colored glasses view. I mean he couldn’t do worse than Ted and George did. But boy would I feel a lot different if instead they brought in a Pete Carol or leaned on a Harbaugh or someone else.